Austen Smith's grand slam lifts Tide over ASU

By Aaron SuttlesSports Writer

Wednesday

Feb 23, 2011 at 12:01 AM

It was only a matter of time before Austen Smith put his 230 pounds behind the perfect pitch.

TUSCALOOSA | It was only a matter of time before Austen Smith put his 230 pounds behind the perfect pitch.The 6-foot-4 freshman had been the talk of the preseason amongst his teammates for his raw power. Ask any returning member of the University of Alabama baseball team about this year's crop of freshmen, and the first they'd mention was Smith and his ability to drive the ball out of the ballpark.Smith finally showed the Crimson Tide faithful that power when his first collegiate hit went for a grand slam as he helped Alabama to an 11-7 win over Alabama State at Sewell-Thomas Stadium on Tuesday. In his second at-bat, Smith came to the plate with the bases loaded and deposited a first-pitch fast ball into the netting in front of the scoreboard in left center field.“I got a pitch up, something I could handle, and put the barrel on it,” Smith said. “It was a fast ball at the letters, a bad place to leave one.”In high school, he said he hit one home run that measured 503 feet. Imagine how far this one would have traveled with last year's bat.“He would have hit the top of the scoreboard on that one for sure,” Alabama coach Mitch Gaspard joked. “He's one of those rare young players that possess big-time power. With these bats, he's one of the few guys that we have that can consistently hit home runs. We knew that was coming. Hopefully that's just the first of many that we see from him.“I think he's really going to be a great one here.”Smith's homer surged Alabama to a 4-0 lead, which was plenty of run support for starter Taylor Wolfe.Wolfe, a left-handed sophomore, pitched five innings, allowing no runs, hits or walks, while striking out nine. In his 69 pitches — 52 for strikes — he made only one mistake, hitting an Alabama State batter on a two-strike off-speed pitch.“I felt really good out there,” Wolfe said. “I thought coach Dax (Norris) was calling a really great game. We got ahead early and threw the fast ball a lot.”Wolfe said he's added 20-25 pounds in the offseason, which has helped improve his velocity from 84-85 miles per hour to the high 80s this year.“He's been as high as 90,” Gaspard said. “If I had to guess he was 87-88 today. His change-up was good, and his breaking ball was good. I think we're going to see a different Taylor Wolfe this year.” Wolfe (1-0) was pulled after the fifth inning due to pitch count. With a no-hitter going, he wasn't ready to come out.“You don't really want to come out right there,” Wolfe said. “It is early in the season, and there are more important games. You don't want to blow it out the first outing. But you do look at that and think, ‘I'm throwing good today. I don't want to come out.'”The Alabama bullpen struggled in the seventh inning, allowing six runs and Alabama State back into the game.Troy Sutherland started the inning and was pulled after three straight walks. Jay Shaw came in for 1⁄3 of an inning, giving up two hits, one walk and three earned runs. Brett Whitaker then came on to close out the inning.“We came out and didn't throw strikes to start the inning, and before you know it the bases are loaded,” Gaspard said. “Then all of a sudden a ball finds a hole and there you go. “We left a lot of balls up in the strike zone. They got some momentum going. That's how it happens.“I just told the team that's how quick it can happen regardless of the opponent. That's why we emphasize pounding the strike zone because it can turn on a dime like it did, and all of a sudden a ballgame that's 11-1 is now 11-7 and you're in a dog fight. “Today was a learning experience for us.”Jared Reaves continued his excellent start, going 2-for-2 with three runs scored and two RBIs. Brett Booth had two RBIs and Brock Bennett added two runs scored.Alabama (4-0) travels to Mobile on Friday to face Southeastern Louisiana at 1 p.m. in the first game of the South Alabama Classic.

Reach Aaron Suttles at aaron.suttles@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0229.

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